Google Maps different in different browsers

[Brian556]

Google Maps is very different in different browsers...WHY?

Edge-Updated imagery, no 3-D, slower
Firefox-Very outdated imagery, 3-D imagery, faster
Chrome-Very outdated imagery, 3-D, haven't test long enough to determine speed


The 3-D imagery thing is annoying as fuck cause the map is incorrectly oriented (north is not on top) when you exit street view

[Bruce]

You can disable the 3-D imagery in Chrome by disabling Hardware acceleration in the advanced settings. Also makes the website snappier and uses the newer imagery.

[vdeane]

Google Maps is very different in different browsers...WHY?

Edge-Updated imagery, no 3-D, slower
Firefox-Very outdated imagery, 3-D imagery, faster
Chrome-Very outdated imagery, 3-D, haven't test long enough to determine speed


The 3-D imagery thing is annoying as fuck cause the map is incorrectly oriented (north is not on top) when you exit street view

Most imagery that Google captures isn't used for 3D.  That's why the browsers capable of rendering 3D mode have outdated imagery unless you disable globe view.  3D imagery is seldom the latest (though it does happen occasionally).

[jakeroot]

We've covered the issues with Google Maps in different browsers over the main Google Maps thread, especially related to the Globe mode.

In my area, satellite imagery is updated on a near-annual basis, right around May to July. But the 3D imagery is updated maybe once every five years, if that. You can switch between the two by disabling Globe mode on most browsers.

[Brian556]

You can disable the 3-D imagery in Chrome by disabling Hardware acceleration in the advanced settings. Also makes the website snappier and uses the newer imagery.

This did not solve the problem

We've covered the issues with Google Maps in different browsers over the main Google Maps thread, especially related to the Globe mode.

In my area, satellite imagery is updated on a near-annual basis, right around May to July. But the 3D imagery is updated maybe once every five years, if that. You can switch between the two by disabling Globe mode on most browsers.

Disabling Globe mode did get me newer imagery, and the map is always upright when you exit street view. Thanks

[jakeroot]

Disabling Globe mode did get me newer imagery, and the map is always upright when you exit street view. Thanks

No problem. I think the angle of the camera when exiting Street View in Globe mode is the leading cause of the angle in satellite mode, but I'm not sure.

[vdeane]

Yeah, it only does that in satellite mode.  Switching to map mode causes it to re-orient north.

[formulanone]

You can disable the 3-D imagery in Chrome by disabling Hardware acceleration in the advanced settings. Also makes the website snappier and uses the newer imagery.

Thanks! This helps speed things up for me, and it doesn't seem to hang as much.

Imagery appears a lot more pixelated at first and scrolling around is a little more choppy (think of Google maps about a 10-15 years ago), but it's still faster overall.

[MNHighwayMan]

think of Google maps about a 10-15 years ago

Google Maps was launched in February 2005.

[formulanone]

think of Google maps about a 10-15 years ago

Google Maps was launched in February 2005.

One of those imagery-mapped websites, then...Mapquest or Terraserver? But definitely by 2001 or so that kind of thing was on the web.

[hotdogPi]

Not sure about Maps itself, but as part of my internship, I have noticed a huge difference between 2009 and 2012 in street view. (The area I'm doing has 07, 08, 09, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18; there's almost no difference between 12 and 18.)

[webny99]

Not sure about Maps itself, but as part of my internship, I have noticed a huge difference between 2009 and 2012 in street view. (The area I'm doing has 07, 08, 09, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18; there's almost no difference between 12 and 18.)

Assuming you are talking about the quality of the imagery, I would generally agree. I know anything pre-2009 is much lower quality, but I don't know exactly when it started to improve. I think I recall some 2011 imagery that was much better than the old original -08/-09 stuff.

[Stephane Dumas]

One of those imagery-mapped websites, then...Mapquest or Terraserver? But definitely by 2001 or so that kind of thing was on the web.

Besides Mapquest and Terraserver, there was also Yahoo Maps who was created around the same era I think.

[vdeane]

Not sure about Maps itself, but as part of my internship, I have noticed a huge difference between 2009 and 2012 in street view. (The area I'm doing has 07, 08, 09, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 18; there's almost no difference between 12 and 18.)

Assuming you are talking about the quality of the imagery, I would generally agree. I know anything pre-2009 is much lower quality, but I don't know exactly when it started to improve. I think I recall some 2011 imagery that was much better than the old original -08/-09 stuff.

In my experience, 2007-2009 is generally bad, and 2010+ is good, but I've seen some imagery from 2009 and even 2008 in a few places that's good, especially in Canada and Mexico.  I think they experimented with better cameras there before bringing them here.